


Of cats and muses

by theonetruenorth



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Embedded Images, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 11:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7842937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonetruenorth/pseuds/theonetruenorth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This day, however, Chairman's morning routine was utterly ruined by the most unimaginable, atrocious and breath-taking scandal that he could think of.</p><p>His food bowl was empty.</p><p>And that was <i>not</i> okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of cats and muses

**Author's Note:**

> This is my a little fic made as a gift for anoverwhelmingquestion for the ”Shadowhunters Summertime Fest” exchange.

Chairman Meow liked his life.

It was good. He had his routines and rituals, which dictated the pace of his existence. He usually started his day not long after dawn, stretched out in his bed in the corner of the living room, hidden partially - for privacy reasons - behind a statue of a naked lady with cut-off arms. Then a quick visit to the bathroom to do his business. By that time his water bowl was already refreshed and his food dish was filled; Magnus liked to get up early and make sure to take care of the priorities first. After breakfast Chairman was ready to start his day and pursue the activities worthy of a great feline.

Sleeping. Bird watching. Sleeping. Playing with Magnus’ ingredient collection. More sleeping.

Preferably in that order.

And maybe a little bit of interdimensional time traveling too, if that tiny portal underneath Magnus’ dresser was still open. He missed his friends on the other side, especially good old Erwin Schrödinger, always so lost in thought but always prepared with snacks on hand for his muse.

This day, however, his morning routine was utterly ruined by the most unimaginable, atrocious and breath-taking scandal that Chairman could think of.

His food bowl was empty.

And that was not okay.

With his tail swishing angrily and a rage-filled sound building up in his throat, Chairman marched to the bedroom with intent to let Magnus know just how disappointed he was in him.

Ever since _the other one_ entered his life, Magnus sometimes tended to stay in bed longer than it was absolutely necessary - in Chairman’s opinion, not that anybody asked him. But at least Magnus made sure to set up some spells that transferred the food from its packaging to the appropriate bowls. The spell lasted for a little while, making sure his needs were taken care of automatically. _The other one_ tended to distract Magnus more often than not.

Chairman liked _the other one_ \- Alec. He really did. Alec was tall, dark, broody and smelled like light and feathers and ozone before the rain. He was so painfully different than Magnus. But at the same time he was kind and warm and his big hands were always so very gentle when he was touching Chairman or playing with him in the evenings.

Chairman Meow stood on his hind legs and pushed the bedroom door open. Unless the two of them were in the process of mating (which, eww, he did not need to know every intimate moment of Magnus’ life), the door was usually left slightly ajar just for his convenience. The blinds on the windows were partially open, painting the room with stripes of light. From his vantage point Chairman could see that Alec was sleeping, sprawled inelegantly on his belly, face half hidden in the pillow. Magnus was sitting, leaning on the footboard, concentrating on something placed in his lap.

Unless it was his breakfast, Chairman didn’t particularly care what it was.

He hopped onto the bed with grace, and stalked over to the warlock, an angry chirp coming out from his throat.

Or maybe it wasn’t angry enough, since Magnus didn’t even turn to look at him.

“Shh,” Magnus whispered and Chairman could see now that he was drawing something in what looked like a notebook, “don’t wake him up.”

Did he just…

Did Magnus just shush him?

Chairman huffed, making Magnus’ mouth quirk up and _oooh_ , that was it. He was not trying to be cute, he was angry, dammit! He meowed with displeasure and swatted Magnus’ hand.

“I know, I know. You’re hungry,” Magnus muttered, finally sparing a second to look at the cat, “but if you’ll be patient for couple more minutes I promise I’ll give you a little extra.”

Chairman narrowed his eyes at him. Magnus better keep his promise, otherwise he might be surprised with a brand new hairball in one of his very expensive shoes.

Forced to do nothing but wait, Chairman actually looked down at what Magnus was doing. The notebook indeed held drawings, like he assumed. At that very moment Magnus was drawing the impressive expanse of Alec’s back, all muscle and runes and scars. The pencil was scratching against paper quickly, sketching the image of a sleeping Nephilim in short, precise strokes.

Chairman tilted his head slightly as he looked at the picture. Magnus was always decent with the arts, having decades of practice and lessons from the best. There were countless sketchbooks hidden away on the shelves in Magnus’ workshop, filled with drawings of people and places, of portraits of loved ones, images of friends. Chairman suspected that the sketchbooks were only a small fraction of what he actually created over the centuries, the rest of them forgotten or abandoned when they became too painful to look at.

This picture of Alec, though, it looked good. It had just the right amount of detail without being overdone, capturing the moment of peaceful slumber. The relaxed line of his shoulders, a clear sign that the Nephilim was feeling safe. The way he rested, comfortable and easy, looking soft in his sleep in the way he rarely looked while he was awake.

As Chairman watched, Magnus made one last small adjustment to the drawing, slowly adding the ink-black rune on the right side of Alec’s ribcage. He could still remember the day that it was drawn, how Magnus’ hands didn’t tremble as he wielded the stele, skin burning and the unpleasant smell. He remembered the way Alec grimaced in pain but told Magnus not to stop.

The rune translated to Magnus’ name, that much Chairman knew.

Alec stirred, on the verge of waking up and Magnus closed his sketchbook and put it away. He stretched out on the bed again, pressing himself close to the Nephilim and placing a kiss on one scratchy cheek (and Chairman would never understand why it was acceptable for humans to have their fur on every part of their body except for their faces. They were weird like that.)

“Good morning, love,” Magnus whispered even as Alec’s arm sneaked its way over to Magnus’ waist to hold him closer, despite the man being still half-asleep, “I’ll go get the breakfast started. I forgot to renew the spell on Chairman’s food bowl and he’s being a demanding spoiled brat right now.”

Well, excuse him.

“Stay in bed,” Alec mumbled, his arm tightening its hold but Chairman let out an unimpressed hiss upon hearing the words.

“I’m sorry, darling,” Magnus laughed, “I don’t think I can make him wait any longer. He’ll start peeing everywhere just to spite me if I don’t give in soon.”

Chairman huffed. He did that once, just once and it was Magnus’ own fault for trying to give him a bath, of all things.

Alec muttered something unrecognizable but let the Warlock go, burying himself deeper into the sheets. Magnus laughed again, stood up and scooped Chairman out of the bed. He cradled the cat in his arms as he walked towards the kitchen.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus said, “you know you are my favorite, right? I think there’s a salmon in the fridge with your name on it, if you would like some.”

Well.

As far as apologies went, that was a pretty good start.

**Author's Note:**

> Every fic in this series is first posted to my tumblr and I upload it to AO3 with a delay. If you want to read my stories as soon as I finish them, follow me there: theonetruenorth.tumblr.com
> 
> Beta-read by [brizzbee](http://brizzbee.tumblr.com/)


End file.
